South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — President Donald Trump’s point man to North Korea said Wednesday that the U.S. administration is ready to resume stalled nuclear negotiations despite the North’s repeated claims that it has no immediate intent for dialogue with Washington.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun spoke to reporters following meetings with South Korean officials in Seoul, where they reaffirmed the allies’ commitment toward a diplomatic approach in resolving the nuclear standoff with the North but avoided specific answers on what was discussed.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Tuesday repeated it has no immediate intent to resume dialogue with the United States hours before U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun was to arrive in South Korea for discussions on the stalled nuclear diplomacy.

In a statement released through Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency, senior North Korean foreign ministry official Kwon Jong Gun also ridiculed South Korea’s “nonsensical” calls for revived negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang when it has lost its relevance as a mediator.

SEOUL, July 5 (NNN-YONHAP) — North Korea’s state media outlets have refrained from criticizing South Korea for nearly two weeks, after leader Kim Jong-un put military action plans against the South on hold in a surprise about-face after weeks of harsh threats and rhetoric.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Saturday reiterated it has no immediate plans to resume nuclear negotiations with the United States unless Washington discards what it describes as “hostile” polices toward Pyongyang.

The statement by North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui came days after President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, told reporters that Trump might seek another summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as an “October surprise” ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

SEOUL, July 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US point man for North Korea is due to visit South Korea next week as it pushes for a resumption of talks with the North ahead of the US election and despite few signs of any progress.

US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, who led working-level negotiations with the North Koreans, will be among several State Department officials holding talks with South Korean counterparts on Tuesday (July 7), a government official said.

SEOUL/LONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell below $43 a barrel on Friday as a resurgence of coronavirus cases raised concern that fuel demand growth could stall, although crude was still headed for a weekly gain on lower supply and wider signs of economic recovery.

The United States reported more than 55,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, a new daily global record for the pandemic. The rise in cases suggested U.S. jobs growth, which jumped in June, could suffer a setback.

“If this trend continues, oil demand in the region is at risk,” said Louise Dickson of Rystad Energy.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un urged officials to maintain alertness against the coronavirus, warning that complacency risked “unimaginable and irretrievable crisis,” state media said Friday.

Despite the warning, Kim reaffirmed North Korea’s claim to not have had a single case of COVID-19, telling a ruling party meeting Thursday that the country has “thoroughly prevented the inroad of the malignant virus” despite the worldwide health crisis.

SEOUL, July 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in has said that his country will make all-out efforts to let the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States hold talks before the U.S. presidential election.

Moon made the remarks during a video conference with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, which was held on Tuesday to discuss ways to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak, the South Korean presidential Blue House said Wednesday.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean police said Tuesday that they’ve summoned two activists accused of raising tensions with North Korea by sending propaganda balloons or plastic bottles filled with rice across the border.

Park Sang-hak, a North Korean refugee who has floated anti-Pyongyang leaflets by balloon across the land border, and his brother Park Jung-oh, who has floated plastic bottles filled with rice across the sea boundary, were being questioned at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, an agency officer with direct knowledge of the cases said.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea and the United States urged North Korea to implement the disarmament pledges it made in past talks, saying Thursday the allies will keep pushing for diplomacy aimed at achieving the North’s complete denuclearization.

A joint statement, issued by South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and U.S. Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, comes a day after North Korea abruptly announced it would suspend steps that would have nullified 2018 tension-reduction deals and further raised animosities on the Korean Peninsula.